The majority of city council voted in favour of approving, in principle, proceeding with the implementation of a single-stream curbside recycling program for single-family dwellings receiving automated garbage collection for the year 2013. The Environment Advisory Committee presented to council the AECOM recycling report commissioned by the Engineering Department that took 16 months to put together.

Council also approved the committee’s recommendation for administration to proceed with more investigation regarding capital and operating costs, city operation compared to contracted services and payment options. The committee recommended council to vote in favour of proceeding with public information sessions regarding curb side collection options and report back to council by January 2013, which was also approved.

“I realize this is a very general motion and doesn’t take us as far as we’d like to be going,” said Coun. Don Mitchell who sits on the Environment Advisory Committee. “It will be a commitment in principle to proceed with the planning for curb side recycling. A lot of major questions are still to be answered, more information (is) required and (we want) to engage the public in discussion.”

Right now, residents can separate the items and take them to the recycling depots or hire Crown Shred out of Regina. Crown Shred operates the private curbside recycling services for residents. The report stated residents are charged $144 per household per year. It said a universal curbside recycling program with economies of scale should make it more economical. The estimation is that a contracted service provider would charge $108 per household.

Because the city owns and operates an automated garbage collection, the service could be expanded to include recycling. Four trucks and staff would be required. The report assumes the cost of a new truck to be $250,000, fuel cost of $1.50 per litre and a labour cost of $40 per hour. The estimated cost for the new service would be $740,000 per year or $48.37 per household per year, assuming trucks are amortized over seven years at six per cent interest. Approximately 13,000 homes receive automated garbage collection.

But Coun. Dawn Luhning said that she is concerned with the motion to potentially have start-up costs in the millions if the city becomes the operator of the business.

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September 18, 2012 - 22:48

Not thrilled at all about this. Put bins for plastic at Pla Mor and other site, preferably City Yard, and this would cover all bases. I do not believe that the city should be doing this. Let Crown and Lorras bear the cost and leave it up to the people to choose how they want to recycle. Personally I have no problem doing it on my own at no extra cost to myself, and I do, faithfully.